Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73
§4061 Defense Research and Development Rapid Innovation Program
Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART V— - ACQUISITION › Subpart Subpart E— - Research and Engineering › Chapter CHAPTER 303— - RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL › § 4061
Summary
The Secretary of Defense must create a fair, competitive program to help small businesses move new technologies into real products faster. The program covers tech from small business research projects, defense labs, prototype efforts, and other new or dual-use items. Its goals are to encourage innovation, cut acquisition and lifecycle costs, lower technical risks, improve testing, help integrate products, and quickly add them into major defense buying programs and other programs that meet key national security needs. The Secretary must publish rules for the program. Rules must use open competitions, have proposals reviewed by the Department of Defense and each military department’s small business office, and pick the most promising cost-effective projects while favoring small businesses. No project can get more than $6,000,000 or more than two years of funding unless extra time is approved. The program cannot fund earmarks or congressionally directed spending. Research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) money may be used if appropriated. In any year, awards larger than $6,000,000 may not total more than 25 percent of the program’s available funds. The Secretary may move program funds to military or agency RDT&E accounts when needed, in addition to other transfer authorities.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §4061
Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)(1)The Secretary of Defense shall establish a competitive, merit-based program to enable and assist small businesses to accelerate the commercialization of various technologies, including critical technologies developed pursuant to phase II Small Business Innovation Research Program projects, phase II Small Business Technology Transfer Program projects, technologies developed by the defense laboratories, capabilities developed through competitively awarded prototype agreements and other innovative technologies (including dual use technologies).
(2)The purpose of this program is to stimulate innovative technologies and reduce acquisition or lifecycle costs, address technical risks, improve the timeliness and thoroughness of test and evaluation outcomes, support the integration of such products, and rapidly insert such products directly in support of primarily major defense acquisition programs, but also other defense acquisition programs that meet critical national security needs.
(b)The Secretary shall issue guidelines for the operation of the program. At a minimum such guidance shall provide for the following:
(1)The issuance of one or more broad agency announcements or the use of any other competitive or merit-based processes by the Department of Defense for candidate proposals in support of primarily major defense acquisition programs, but also other defense acquisition programs as described in subsection (a).
(2)The review of candidate proposals by the Department of Defense and by each Office of Small Business Programs of each military department and the merit-based selection of the most promising cost-effective proposals for funding through contracts, cooperative agreements, and other transactions for the purposes of carrying out the program.
(3)The total amount of funding provided to any project under the program from funding provided under subsection (d) shall not exceed $6,000,000.
(4)No project shall receive more than a total of two years of funding under the program from funding provided under subsection (d), unless the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, approves funding for any additional year.
(5)Mechanisms to facilitate transition of follow-on or current projects carried out under the program into defense acquisition programs, through the use of the authorities of section 4004 of this title or such other authorities as may be appropriate to conduct further testing, low rate production, or full rate production of technologies developed under the program.
(6)Projects are selected using merit-based selection procedures and the selection of projects is not subject to undue influence by Congress or other Federal agencies.
(7)A preference under the program for funding small business concerns.
(c)Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require or enable any official of the Department of Defense to provide funding under this section to any earmark as defined pursuant to House Rule XXI, clause 9, or any congressionally directed spending item as defined pursuant to Senate Rule XLIV, paragraph 5.
(d)(1)Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purpose and to the limitation under paragraph (2), the amounts authorized to be appropriated for research, development, test, and evaluation for a fiscal year may be used for such fiscal year for the program established under subsection (a).
(2)During any fiscal year, the total amount of awards in an amount greater than $6,000,000 made under the program established under subsection (a) may not exceed 25 percent of the amount made available to carry out such program during such fiscal year.
(e)(1)The Secretary may transfer funds available for the program to the research, development, test, and evaluation accounts of a military department, defense agency, or the unified combatant command for special operations forces pursuant to a proposal, or any part of a proposal, that the Secretary determines would directly support the purposes of the program.
(2)The transfer authority provided in this subsection is in addition to any other transfer authority available to the Department of Defense.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 4061 was renumbered section 7381 of this title.
Amendments
2023—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 118–31, § 860(1)(A), inserted “to enable and assist small businesses” after “merit-based program” and “capabilities developed through competitively awarded prototype agreements” after “defense laboratories,” and substituted “commercialization of various technologies, including critical technologies” for “fielding of technologies”. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 118–31, § 860(1)(B), inserted “support the integration of such products,” after “evaluation outcomes,”. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 118–31, § 860(2)(A), inserted “primarily major defense acquisition programs, but also other” after “candidate proposals in support of”. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 118–31, § 860(2)(B), substituted “by each Office of Small Business Programs of each military department” for “by each military department”. Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 118–31, § 860(3), substituted “$6,000,000” for “$3,000,000”. 2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1842(b), as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(q)(1), (u)(3)(B), renumbered section 2359a of this title as this section. Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(d)(8), which directed the substitution of “section 4004” for “section 2302e”, could not be executed because of the intervening amendment by Pub. L. 116–283, § 1883(b)(2). See note below. Pub. L. 116–283, § 1883(b)(2), substituted “section 4004” for “section 2302e”. 2019—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 116–92, § 878(a)(1), inserted “phase II Small Business Technology Transfer Program projects,” after “projects,”. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 116–92, § 878(a)(2)(A), substituted “$6,000,000.” for “$3,000,000, unless the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, approves a larger amount of funding for the project.” Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 116–92, § 878(a)(2)(B), added par. (7). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–92, § 878(a)(3), designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted “and to the limitation under paragraph (2)” after “for such purpose”, and added par. (2).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2021 AmendmentAmendment by section 1701(d)(8) of Pub. L. 117–81 to take effect immediately after the
Amendments
made by title XVIII of Pub. L. 116–283 have taken effect, see section 1701(a)(3) of Pub. L. 117–81, set out in a note preceding section 3001 of this title and note below. Amendment by section 1701(q)(1), (u)(3)(B) of Pub. L. 117–81 applicable as if included in the enactment of title XVIII of Pub. L. 116–283 as enacted, see section 1701(a)(2) of Pub. L. 117–81, set out in a note preceding section 3001 of this title and note below. Amendment by Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title. Regional Activities Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title II, § 213(b), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1589, provided that: “Subject to the availability of appropriations for such purpose, the Secretary of Defense may expand the efforts of the Defense Innovation Unit to engage and collaborate with private-sector industry and communities in various regions of the United States— “(1) to accelerate the adoption of commercially developed advanced technology in modernization priority areas and such other key technology areas as may be identified by the Secretary; and “(2) to expand outreach to communities that do not otherwise have a Defense Innovation Unit presence, including economically disadvantaged communities.” Pilot Program To Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title VIII, § 834, Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1835, as amended by Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title VIII, § 845, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2720, which authorized the Secretary of Defense to establish a competitive, merit-based pilot program to accelerate the procurement and fielding of innovative technologies and required the Secretary to issue guidelines for the operation of such pilot program, was repealed by Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title VIII, § 861(b), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2000. See section 3604 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 4061
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73